Kim Kardashian stole the show at the Met Gala 2022 on Monday night.
The SKIMS founder wowed on the red carpet in a $5 million dress by Jean-Louis, made famous by the late Marilyn Monroe.
The custom-made sheer dress, which was embellished with over six thousand crystals, was worn by Marilyn when she famously sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to John F. Kennedy in 1962.
The iconic dress was acquired by Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum in Orlando, Florida in 2016, and it is stored in a darkened vault that’s controlled at the optimum 68 degrees and 40-50% humidity.
Before the museum loaned Kim the dress, they invited her to try on a replica for size, and it fit her perfectly.
The original dress was then flown to Kim’s home in Calabasas via a private plane, but it was too small for her.
Kim told Vogue Magazine: “The dress was transported by guards and I had to wear gloves to try it on.”
“I always thought she was extremely curvy. I imagined I might be smaller in some places where she was bigger and bigger in places where she was smaller. So when it didn’t fit me I wanted to cry because it can’t be altered at all.”
The reality star then went on a crazy diet to fit into the dress, and lost 16 pounds in the lead up to the gala.
She explained: “I would wear a sauna suit twice a day, run on the treadmill, completely cut out all sugar and all carbs, and just eat the cleanest veggies and protein. I didn’t starve myself, but I was so strict.”
The 41-year-old actually only wore the original dress for a couple of minutes at Monday’s charity ball, changing into a replica after climbing the steps of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Kim said before the red carpet: “I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history. I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it and I won’t be wearing the kind of body makeup I usually do.”
